A sod-cutting ceremony took place today to mark the start of construction work on the new care home for Copeland.
The new 60-bed residential care home on Cleator Moor Road, Whitehaven will cost in the region of £6m and will provide modern quality care for older adults, especially those who need to be supported with dementia and complex care needs.
The home will open in 2019 and during the life of the build project this scheme will bring other additional community benefits including the creation of apprenticeships, short-term work placements and training opportunities for local students.
The new home will replace four older Cumbria Care homes in the area; Dentholme, Castle Mount, Pow Beck and Brackenthwaite.
Cumbria County Councillor Peter Thornton, Cabinet member for Health and Care Services said: “This is an exciting development and the whole of Cumbria, particularly the Copeland and Allerdale area will feel the benefits of this significant investment for many years to come.
“Cumbria County Council appointed Eric Wright Construction to work with them to develop the design for the building that will meet the needs of older people for generations to come.”
Cumbria County Councillor, David Southward, Cabinet member for Property added: “The new care home is part of a wider modernisation programme of care in the Copeland and Allerdale area which as well as providing the home also offers people a wide range of other choices, including receiving more help to live independently in their own homes and the provision of extra care housing schemes.”
John Wilson, managing director from Eric Wright Construction, said: “This unique development has been carefully designed and planned to allow older local residents to maintain their quality of life in a place that’s safe and meets individual care needs.
“We’re working on a growing number of complex care schemes across the UK as local authorities recognise the benefits that they bring to health and wellbeing. As a Group, we’ve a long history of working alongside Cumbria County Council and look forward to getting underway on site.”
This will be the last of the three planned brand new state of the art Cumbria Care homes to open and follows on from the opening of Parkview Gardens in Barrow which opened earlier this year. Work on the site of the new care home in Carlisle has recently commenced and will also open in 2019.